Naruhina The Tears I Held Back
by HinataKawaiiDesu
Summary: I created this fanfic after I read a couple of Visual Novels such as Princess Waltz and Hoshizora no Memoria. The Whole idea of those is to make the reader wallow in tears, that is called Utsuge. To make a story with lots of sadness but a happy resolve. I like that idea so I will try my best at making you cry if you read this fanfiction. User descretion is adviced.
1. Chapter 1

_Note: Before you read this fanfic, do note that I wrote this fanfic as a novel, not a dialog, I'm not going to change how it looks to make it look like an online role play for whoever claimed to be offended about the way I write my texts._

Depression and Nostalgia

She takes a glance at the sunset. Its final sprint tans the clouds in a radiant crimson. Its rays still hit the grounds and bathed it in its warm and friendly colors. "The sun is beautiful", she thought, yet it made her depressed. It reminded her of "him", that boy who is so popular that he doesn't even have time to stay in his own village. Its orange colors reflected his jacket, and its incandescent light reflected his never-give-up- attitude. He had always been the light that guided this Village, and he would certainly become the next Hokage, everyone knew as much. After all, he was the savior of the Ninja World, the victor of the World War and the boy who brought piece among the five ninja nations.

It's clear that he wouldn't have time to stick around with his old friends, and yet, it had been three months since the war ended, and he hadn't returned yet. She hated these thoughts, she thought they were selfish. It is clear why it takes so long. The ninja world needs to see its savior, it needs to know. It needs to…

She takes her gaze off of the breathtaking view and realizes where she is, and more importantly, why she realizes it. Five terribly loud knocks fill the room as they repeat from hitting the four grey-white wallpaper coated walls of her room. Terrified by its loudness, the girl squeaks out the words: "C-c-come… in?" The door had been thrown open already before she had finished her sentence. She could only expect it to be her dad, who is currently at a meeting for the benefit of the clan, or a servant. But none of them fit the description of her visitor.

"Yaho, Hinata!" Inuzuka Kiba. "Mail for you." The so called letter was of course a rhetorical pun. She clearly knew that having known Kiba for roughly 10 years. "We're going on a mission?" The girl said delighted after regaining all of her senses from surprise and greeting him a good afternoon. "How do you know?!" He asked with a dubious face as she was about to leave the room with a smile holding back her answer. Without saying a word, Kiba decides on instructing her on the mission as they take a walk from the compound and through the midtown streets.

It seemed that repairs were slowly showing to bear fruit after Pain's rampage that happened almost half a year ago, and you wouldn't even believe that a war had taken place, even though it brought heavy casualties, especially the death one of Hinata's dearest cousins. "Oi, Hinata!" She suddenly heard her companion snap his fingers in front of her very eyes. "S-Sorry, I guess I get lost in thought too easily lately." He heard her say noticing her red cheeks covered by a wry apologetic smile.

"So, anyway, about the mission, Lady Tsunade has sent team eight on the job for another bandit hunt." You could clearly hear a muffled sigh throughout his whole sentence. Since the war ended bandit activity has increased due to the casualties of the war, and made use of the end-war celebrations for one raid after another. Usually, there should always be a bunch of teams that should take out the trash, and there you have it, team eight.

As soon as the talk about missions was out of the way, they start their usual talk. Since the war had ended, Kiba had only found Hinata sitting in her room when not on a mission. She didn't want to join the girls on their usual shop-amok and she didn't usually go out for dinner. So once in a while he stops by the compound and invites her for a small walk in town.

When they're out he usually starts to talk about what is happening to all of their other friends nowadays, and of course, what he knew was the only thing he would think she would really care listen to; Naruto and his whereabouts.

"It seems that Tsunade finally got the things the way she wanted it." Kiba starts out. "She finally convinced Sasuke to raise a team of three Genin. I'd really enjoy seing him as a babysitter." "Also, as of today, Shino took his team on its first A-rank mission and it went smoothly." After the casualties of the war, Konoha has been in need of new Jonin team leaders, making Tsunade recommend newly established Jonins for the job. Sasuke from team 7, Lee from team Gai and Shino from team 8 were quickly recommended for the job. She wished to recommend Shikamaru as a team leader too, but he had to assume the role of his father as no one else was fit for the job. She also waited for the day when Naruto would finally settle in Konoha so she could recommend a team for him too.

Hinata was also a good candidate for a team leader, but despite that, she still hadn't made up her decision for the greater good of the clan. She didn't feel suited for the role as Hyuuga Clan Head when she had to live up to her own father. On that aspect, her little sister Hanabi would be a better option. Even though her combat skills were terrific, she was still too young to become a leader. She caught herself wishing that Neji was still alive. He would have been a great leader of the Hyuuga Clan, despite being of the side branch. She truly believed that her father would accept him as a leader in spite of that. Hinata slowly sinks into a world of shadows thinking about the dead and the lost.

"Stop being so depressed Hinata, it's killing me." Kiba blurts out showing off his begging puppy eyes. "Tell you what; I'll treat you on some ramen." He says this just as they pass by Teuchi at Ichiraku, and soon after they ordered Teuchi tries to break the silent with a conversations he knew they all could join in. "It's been pretty quiet lately, I can't even feel the heaviness of a dish after a long day of work. Not without Naru—" Kiba quickly hits the table knowing what he was about to say. "Teuchi, not the N-word!" Kiba says in a playful tone accompanied by a big fake smile, turning to Hinata it was like her whole entity was covered by a great dark cloud of depression. "Don't be like that Hinata!" Kiba tries his best to console her, but all he does is wave his arms around in panic.

"If you miss Naruto that much, then this news may be good to hear." Hinata's head perks up immediately on Teuchi's offer, surprising Kiba even further how simple planned she can be when she is this depressed. "Since the war ended you both know that the Hyuuga Hero, Neji didn't get a proper funeral, and as you know, the whole Village is going to visit his grave together on September 15th." They both nod at his statement. "Well, hearing that, Naruto wouldn't miss it by any chance, so she is coming home from his whole tour to stay in Konoha." "That's great news! Right, Hinata?" Kiba blurts out only to find Hinata stare at Kiba with such blaming eyes that it would curse a weak human. He knew what she was thinking: "Why didn't you tell me earlier? And you're supposed to be my Naruto scout!" Kiba laughed on the outside, but he felt dead on the inside.

The street lanterns had just been lit when Hinata and Kiba arrive at the compound. The summer weather made it hard to feel the fact that it was evening since the ear didn't actually become colder or thicker. For the fact that June had just started the villagers knew it would be a hot summer. Kiba gives Hinata his waves before turning around, but he stops for two seconds. "Kiba-kun.. Thanks… For looking after me." He didn't turn around on her gratitude, but from another angle you could see his broad genuine smile as he heads off. He throws his arm in the air with a thumbs up before he takes off once again as a way of saying "Any time, buddy."

* * *

Last time he saw this village, the repairs were still incomplete. Streets were crowded with his homeless kinsmen that received refuge for the nights in the tents on the great camp. The village had little in their food stocks, and could only barely supply itself with food. Only because of the charity of the great Kazekage, offering the hidden leaf assistance in food stock did the villagers survive through this cursed period of hunger. They all gave all of their strength to rebuild the village, and worked as the pillars. Each one of them supported the other. This was truly the time when the brotherhood of the village stood strongest. And now, this brotherhood is stronger than ever.

It looked so different. He didn't recognize a single building, except for the main gate, the Hokage's office, the hospital and the compounds that weren't severely damaged. But there was one thing which he didn't take notice of before. The entire block in which he used to live in was… gone. Realizing this, he knew only one person would have to answer for this. She might not have been there for the planning, but she played a great role in it as soon as she woke up.

"Oi, what's the deal to this?!" His voice's mass enveloped the entire office as it entered with his entire "elegant" being through the office door. "You've never been the knocking type, have you?" Tsunade said holding her usual pose, her hands tied together by the fingers. "Well it's nice to see you're healthy too!" She yelled aloud with as much mass to her voice. "What's your problem?!" But she quite frankly knew this already. "Suppose that would be my missing house?!"

The conversation had pretty much started out in a roaring competition. Tsunade was the first to show some tact, surprisingly. "Oh that!" She smirked showing off a wry smile. "I couldn't get myself to rebuild that dump." "WHAT?!" If you watched Naruto from any angle you would clearly see steam popping out of his rage painted skin. If you were an outsider you would find this conversation rather intense, but anyone else would find it comical, as Shizune clearly reflected by her muffled giggle.

"Why of course, that apartment doesn't suit the hero of the hidden leaf, and now, the hero of the whole nation." Naruto's rage went out through the same exit, his mouth. "That apartment was the only memory I had left from the fact that I had a family here!" Tsunade decided to interrupt him before he started reminiscing memories that would depress the entire argument. "That's why I decided on rebuilding something that was destroyed long ago." Tsunade stands up from her office desk. She walks right past Naruto, slapping the back of his head as an offer to follow her.

Though pouting and moaning the entire way, having a hard time realizing if he was pissed off or really just sad, he takes any of these worries back. He stood in front of something nostalgic, something he had never seen, only in his memories. But he knew it. "This is a perfect imitation of Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze's house, the house you were born in. And now…" She turns around to face Naruto. She perfectly locks her gaze on his. "It's yours." "For real?!" His eyes couldn't become any wider. Any more and they would certainly pop right out of his face. "Can I…?" He takes a step towards the mighty building suggesting exploration of its interior. "Not without a key of course." Tsunade interrupts him yet again, and drags out a copper key from the side pocket of her green trench coat. It was part of a keychain with two accessories attached to it. They looked like miniature or perhaps even chibi versions of his mother and father.

He eagerly twists the key and hurriedly opens the door. He takes a walk through the whole house. He had heard stories about this house from his mother when she reminisced the past in front of him at the Kyuubi's presence, but now it was in front of him. Tsunade stands in the middle of the living room when he returns to her. "Well, I guess it's got some perks to being a hero huh? Heheheh!" She knew that the boy was indeed grateful, but his ways of saying thanks were usually just as dodgy as her way of saying "you're welcome." "You ungrateful little brat!" She flings these roars into the air as she jabs his head from above, avoiding to toss him anywhere since that would damage the furniture.

The sky turns red when Tsunade leaves the house. She wanted to make sure that the blonde boy had successfully unpacked and felt at home. As she left the house, he walked outside along with her. "Don't think about it Naruto, I can walk home by myself." Tsunade said surprised. "That's not it." Naruto said in the best manner not to get her mad for disliking her idea. "My stock on ramen is limited, and I promised to meet up with my old team as soon as I could." He says this with an embarrassed smile for unknown reasons. "Just like the old days, huh?" "Yeah!" He raises a fist to the air, saluting his home. His old home. His real home.

* * *

"So you've become a babysitter huh?" Naruto points and laughs at Sasuke's admitted red face. "For your information, they're all exceptional Genin!" Sasuke futilely tries to turn the tables to his benefit. "I love those words coming from your mouth!" Naruto returns the fire. "Remember the time when we were Genin? You would always tell us to get out of the way because we were worthless, and now you're praising Genin!" Sasuke perks up at his quote. "That's because they're Genin under my command!" And without a doubt, both Sasuke and Sakura would know that he'd pick up the ball. "Are you kidding? I'd bet if I had a team of Genins they would beat your team in-" "Some things never change, do they?" Sakura's voice enters the argument, of lesser value. But her voice isn't full of arrogance of the likes of the two "gentlemen."

"Things have changed but they haven't really changed." Sakura's voice is filled with Nostalgia, just the way Naruto's was earlier on the same day. "Your arguments are still childish and harmless, and I'm still the middleman who is supposed to end it. But one thing is different. We're all taller, older, and pretty much adult. We have responsibilities." "Why are you saying that, Sakura?" Naruto asks with a confused and rude tone. "Because things are changing now, we aren't just ninjas anymore." As her nostalgia creates an oddity in the air, Naruto and Sasuke acquire a shared grimace of doubt. "Sasuke and his Genin, and I basically am in charge of the entire hospital." "Yeah, but weren't you already that already before the war?" Naruto interrupts at a bad time meeting her furious fists. "Don't break my good mood!"

After calming Sakura down, joining their forces of coercion, Sasuke finally gives in to the pressure and tells them about his team of Genin which he has been training for a week. "Kenta and Nori are two very special but tough Genin. Kenta is a talented Archer and Nori is a Hyuuga, and haven't really been getting along since they do not compliment eachother's fighting styles." "Reminds me of Sasuke and I when we were on our first A-rank mission and kept competing instead of helping eachother out." Naruto adds. "Kenta really has a special way of fighting, but in reality, Nori is just much more gifted. His gentle fist is top class, but he's aggressive, while Nori is calm in many situations. They could really learn from eachother if they would just cooperate…"

"You say that, but you're still horrible at cooperating yourself, Sasuke-kun." Sakura comments in a giving-up manner. "Well…" Sasuke scuffs. "That's because I can take care of myself on my own, but I have to keep looking over their shoulders because they can't back eachother up, that's a pain in the ass…" To that Naruto starts laughing out loud in a way that it makes others in the restaurant take notice, and Sasuke both mad and embarrassed. "But, what about your third Genin?" Sakura asks while pulling Naruto together the "Sakura way". "Haruka is a genius." Sasuke says in an immediate response. "An Aburame with a certain knack for hiding herself and her chakra."

You could see on Sasuke's face that he was just asking any of the two to ask him how, so Sakura took the lead. "She hides her chakra in the structure of the bugs, and confuses her target. While her target is confused she can go for a perfect backstab. I've never seen any ninja like that, like a perfect assassin!" Sasuke is so pumped up that the two other are worried that he might use Haruka for his own evil purpose.

"You've made me pumped!" Naruto states, taking his last bite of pork, and setting the tray. "I'm definitely going to get a Genin team that's a hundred times better than yours! They'll beat your Genin into the dust at the Chuunin Exam!" "Like hell!" Sasuke answers the fire, realizing both he and Naruto were standing up from their chairs. They had been rivalising for as long as they can remember as Genin, and now they are rivals on a completely new level.

After the dinner, Sasuke excuses himself and leaves to his Compound. To Naruto's luck, he and Sakura now live a few neighborhoods away from eachother, so she has no reason to refuse to let him walk her home. "It's good to have you home again, Naruto." Sakura acts as the conversation starter, although Naruto had been rambling about his special missions with Killer Bee which Sakura had not heard about while she had her head busy with the war. "Konoha hasn't been quite as loud as today, I've missed that." "Should I take that as a compliment or an insult?" Naruto asks stupidly, to which Sakura clenches her fist. "Moron, I'm telling you that I missed you! Shaa!" And hits his head clean. After regaining her posture, Naruto notices a blush upon her face but couldn't judge whether it was because of embarrassment or something else.

They shortly arrive in front of Sakura's house. Naruto had received three fists to the face along the way, because of his loud mouth. "Goodnight Naruto", Sakura waves at him as she walks up to her front door, but Naruto is in another dimension. The conversation along the way had been quite uncommon for Sakura. She had talked about how much she had missed Naruto and about how she had been looking forward to his arrival at Konoha, in a manner that made her show more affection towards him than he is used to.

"Sakura, I want to ask you something." Naruto says in a serious manner. His hazel blue eyes clearly questioning her to face him. Not deciding to move, Naruto instead walks up to her at her front door, facing bluntly at her front. "Are your feelings for me still the same?" Sakura knew where this was going. Naruto was good at taking advantage of any situation to ask her out, but she would never believe that he would even take a chance like this one. Something seemed different, though. He wasn't his usual self. His eyes were as full of determination as when she saw him facing Nagato after Konoha had been obliterated.

"I can't say my feelings are the same." She timidly confesses. "I realized that you're dear to me, Naruto, and Sasuke too. You're…" Sakura's train of thought is stopped when Naruto has already grabbed her by the shoulders, as his face reaches down to meet hers. He tries to catch something he didn't know if he would actually acquire, a hot sensation on his lips, the true token to prove if his burning wish for the pink haired lady's hand could be granted, or if he had to keep fighting. Yet, he never felt a sensation on his lips, instead, the sensation was a push on his chest.

"… You're my family." Sakura ends her sentence. "Please, Naruto-kun, you know this cannot happen. I love you. But…" "… But not like that." Naruto's voice sinks into a disappointed moan. "Sorry." He adds. "I hope Sasuke will accept you someday, at least. So you can be happy together." "It's not because of Sasuke-kun, Naruto, you know that fully well." She says not accepting his words of defeat. He used to never back down on his actions. Seing him give up is unusual, even surreal.

"I know." He replies in a whisper. "Goodnight Naruto." She wants to end the conversation not to hurt him anymore. She knew what she had done had to be done, she had just hoped that he had given up on her. Yet, there was one thing she felt she had to say: "I know she is out there, the one that deserves you." "Why are you saying that? It doesn't make any sense." Naruto asks with a deeper whisper and a dubious gaze as he walks away. "Because I don't." She says these last words before she closes the door, ending this moment between them, and cutting all of the bonds of love they had shared. This was the end. Could they still be friends?

"… Don't… Deserve… Me?"


	2. Chapter 2

Secrets and Feelings

Two days had passed since the mission. The weather was getting even hotter than usual, bringing most of Hinata's activities indoors. She disliked the fact that she was not good with the sun, which was quite usual for a Hyuuga. Their eyes are hypersensitive to sun rays due to their enhanced sight which can make direct gaze into sunlight lethal. This disadvantage also made their skin bad with sunlight, and made them susceptible to sunburn more easily than any other person. Due to this, Hinata really disliked hot summer days, and usually spent them reading in her room with the Electric Fan on maximum.

i "The Rasengan is a powerful A-rank technique invented by the Fourth Hokage, which he created by observing the Bijuudama. The Hokage spent three years developing the Rasengan; his plan was to take the shape transformation of one's chakra to the highest possible point and then combine it with his chakra's nature affinity, creating a technique that did not need the aid of time-consuming hand seals to control." /i

"Knock knock~" Kiba's voice enter the room with any sound of knocking the door. Smiling to the voice with her head dug into the interest of the text, she plays along with his joke. "Who's there?" "The interrupting puppy!" Hinata puts on a strange face as she stands up to go and open the door. "Interrupting puppy w-" "Arf Arf Auuuu!" Kiba goes off howling as she opens the door for him. "Where did you get that one?" Hinata says delighted by the company whilst giggling at the joke. "My sister when she woke me up… At noon…"

Right after the mission they were sent on two days ago, they were sent on another mission with the same duty, only, in the other end of the fire country. After Kiba had returned home, he was completely beat up, so it's not rare to find a human being sleeping into the afternoon after such physical labor. Knowing that, Hinata knew it was only right to avert herself from telling the poor sod off. She points him to her office chair at the working station as she throws herself on the bed, and returns to her reading.

Kiba had been coming into her room more and more often since the war, since he visited her quite often. He knew very well not to ask her to come outside on a sunny day like this one since she pretty much scolded him when he asked her the first time with a much violent tune. But he thought she would appreciate visitors on days like these since she doesn't usually have female friends come over very often due to the fact that she finds her room embarrassing and not very girl-like. He was pretty much the only one she had aside from Shino and her Sister, which saddened him for a while.

Shaking himself out of those thoughts, he takes interest in the scroll Hinata has absorbed herself in. "Rasengan? Why are you reading up on that jutsu?" Hinata looks up embarrassingly, hiding the scroll from his face. "Are you going to show off in front of Naruto?" He adds with a huge grin on his face. Like everyone else, Kiba was delighted about Naruto's return to the village. He had averted himself from teasing Hinata about her lifelong crush in all of the time he was gone since that would be adding salt to the wound. "N-no, stop saying that all of a sudden, it's… a coincidence that he knows the same jutsu!" Hinata's face turns beep red at the sudden statement, and clearly can't handle the situation she has thrown herself into.

"Nevertheless, isn't this project a little too big for you?" Kiba says with dubious eyes. "I know that." Hinata says, her eyes swallowed by the text once again, her back turned to the tilt headed puppy. "The jutsu is today used by only Naruto-kun, Kakashi-sensei and Konohamaru-kun. It's going to be very tough to do it since I need to do it without the use of shadow clones." Kiba stops her train of thought. "Hinata! I know you're excited, but, what wouldn't Naruto get pissed off to see you using that jutsu?"

"I don't think so." Hinata goes on, her eyes wandering across the room. "I remember once on a mission. Naruto and I were supposed to deliver a letter to the hidden cloud when we were attacked by rogue ninja on our way. They weren't much, so I decided on taking them out on my own, but I think Naruto was amazed by it. When we got home, before we parted ways, I told him that I hoped I was a good companion, since I am not as talented as he is. I expected him to be flattered, but instead, he shoves the flatter right back at me, saying that I am the talented one, that he was going to become stronger so I wouldn't get ahead of him."

Kiba observes the steam escaping Hinata's body as she embarrasses herself with the memory. "Hinata, are you okay?" He tries contacting her, but futile. "So, I don't think he will hate me for learning the rasengan. Since he thinks I'm skilled, I just think he will feel more pumped to become much stronger." Hinata's fists are clenched as she says this. "Earth to Hinata!" Kiba yells, waving his hands around the room, finally gaining eye contact with her. "The rasengan is much harder to do than even your strongest jutsu, the Twin Lion Fist. You don't just need to shape your chakra into larger chakra masses, you need to put hundreds of smaller bits of chakra mass in motion without internal collision."

"I can do it…" Some words Kiba hadn't heard from this girl since she decided on learning her most advanced jutsu enter his ears. "Say what?" She had the same determination from back then. Because Naruto had learned his own unique jutsu, she wanted to invent her own, that's what gave her the spirit to learn the Protection 64 palms jutsu. "I don't want to show off in front of Naruto, this jutsu is not about him. I… I want to test myself. If I can learn this jutsu, then it'll prove that I'm not a failure, and that I might even be worthy as a clan member, or even a clan leader."

"So you were feeling unworthy of your title, Hinata Hyuuga…" Kiba catches himself thinking this. "Well, best I can do is make sure you don't give up halfway to the big medal. And yet, I want to know how Naruto feels about this…" Kiba puts himself at a tough position. Should he or should he not? His gaze wander off to the excited Hyuuga absorbed in the scroll. "I probably should tell Naruto. I don't want Hinata to feel hurt if he doesn't take it well." Kiba couldn't believe himself. He felt like he was Hinata's brother, father, or even her lover for caring so much for her well being. But that was ridiculous.

"Kiba, your face is all red." Hinata states, as Kiba notices that she was staring at him. "It must be the sun, it's interfering with your eyesight…" Kiba states with as much composure as he can reel in whilst trying to grasp for air after the humiliation, even though it was just in front of his teammate.

He sits with her for 30 more minutes, having short conversations about the news of the day accompanied by talks about the upcoming day for Neji's funeral. When he looks at the time, it's already 4PM. This would be the right time to invite Naruto out for dinner. He wouldn't be able to say no if he offers him free ramen.

"See ya tomorrow Hinata." He gestures his farewell, receiving only a "Yeah" as a reply. He wanted to ask about the tone she used in her farewells, and yet he didn't want to know if it was because she was already getting ready to be depressed about Neji's death or if it was because she was too swallowed by the scroll.

* * *

His knowledge about Naruto was indeed legit, and it surprised him when he found out about the truth. His house was completely dark. "I don't know why I'm even doing this…" He thinks to himself and leaves to search for the boy downtown. Afterall, this would be the only place he could possibly be.

The Barbeque store had no loudy commentators except for Choji and his father eating their fill for the night, the Dumpling restaurant only had very few visitors, and even Ichiraku Ramen was deserted. Upgiving, Kiba heads towards his home at the Inuzuka residence, crossing the Naka river on the way home. To his fortune, he is hit by an earshattering screech.

"ENGAGED?!"

"Yep, that's him alright", he states, rubbing his sour ears. It seemed that Naruto had been walking from the third training ground accompanied by Shikamaru, Rock Lee and Tenten. The combination seemed weird but maybe it'd all make sense if he asked. He never got the chance though. "Oi Kiba! Did you know did you know?!" Naruto yells out loud right into the ears of the poor boy. Mr. Loudy pants must have had dashed up to his left side while the first roar had knocked his ears out. "Naruto, I'm a detection ninja with 5 times better hearing than you, would you keep that in mind you…"

He walks with the other ninja down to the streets of Konoha, as the other three quickly leave since they had to eat with their families. On the way, Naruto had made it a huge deal that Shikamaru and Temari had been engaged by the command of none other than Shikamaru's mother. It's not really surprising since the boy would never find a bother in the world to confess his feelings. But it was a bit of a fun treat to the eye to see Naruto going on a rampage about it. It would be strange to any outsider, and yet again, his reaction would probably had been the same even if he had been in the village all along. Thankfully, Naruto had calmed down when Shikamaru and the others had left.

"You hungry?" He asks with a big and strange grin. "Why the smiley face?" He asks petrified. "Because I may or may not be treating you to dinner if you are!" Naruto boasts out, grinning at his own fortune, which only put Kiba a bit off. He stares at the boy with a dubious face mixed with an upgiving one. "And how would you afford that? You haven't been on any missions since that fake S-rank mission you took about half a year ago!" "That was a fake?!" Naruto burst out in neglect as his failed counter argument. "Anyway…" Kiba says through the palm on his face. "Where are we going to eat?" "You'll see!" Naruto smirks as Kiba follows troop to the living quarters close to Sakura's house.

He did hear a rumor that Naruto had finally received his inheritance from his mother and father, and got their entire residence. He didn't expect much else than Ramen from Naruto, and no God would tell him that anything had changed, and it was not like he could make complaints or anything since it had been long since Kiba had enjoyed a good bowl of Ramen. Especially the Ramen Naruto usually eats. As a thanks for the dinner, Kiba helps Naruto do the dishes even though it's only a pan and two bowls.

While doing the dishes Kiba takes the big jump to hopefully lead a conversation that would guide them towards the Hinata subject. "Isn't it a bit of a shock?" "What do you mean?" Naruto asks with a lifted eyebrow. "You know, suddenly having such a huge residence for yourself as a welcome-home-present? How are you going to pay for this property?"

"Well, until she assigns me to a paying job, Tsunade-obaa-chan will take care of the rents for this apartment, so I'm off the hook for now. It tried to object, but hell, she just used the 'you've done great things for me and the village, let me repay that would ya?' card on me." Kiba sighs and chuckles at Naruto's upgiving attitude and goes onto something else.

"What do you want to be? I mean, you can't be Hokage yet…" "I want my own Genin team, just like Sasuke, and kick their asses at the Chuunin Exam!" "Keh! That's the Naruto I know!" Kiba shouts out hitting Naruto's back, right after Naruto washes off the tub he had been using for the dishes, leaving them done.

"What about you, Kiba?" Naruto asks as the two sit down on the couch in the livingroom. "Me? Well, Tsunade offered me a spot as Jonin because of the Leaf Villages situation after the war, and I'm going to accept that at some point, but the Inuzuka farm lost a lot of good keepers in the war, so I'm helping my sister at the farm whenever I can." "Aww you're such a caring and loving brother you~!" Naruto puts on a teasy tone as he grabs Kiba by the neck and rubs his head. "Oi! Let go of me!"

As the conversation trails off, Kiba doesn't believe it, but he trails sadness across his face. "Did something happen?" "How can you tell?" Naruto is quick to admit. "Puppy nose! Dogs can sense human emotions from the Pheromones they emit." Naruto looks puzzled at Kiba with a commentary. "What are pheromones?" "Well, it's what makes people stink…" To which Kiba gets a fist to his bony head. "Are you telling me I stink?! You!" The two start a minor brawl to the point when both have forgotten about the real subject. Instead, Kiba is reminded of the reason why he came there in the first place forgetting every decency in his manners, so, after they wrap up their minor battle, he asks him.

"Hinata? Rasengan? Really?!" Kiba couldn't tell what Naruto meant by that, if it was surprise or frustration. Or perhaps confusion? "I see, heh!" And, grinning?! "Don't you feel the least concerned? I mean, isn't it your special technique?" Kiba yells out frustrated. "Yes, but, it also mean that she is going to become stronger." Frowning at that, Kiba stumbles upon his words. "Why do you care?!" "Do you mean you don't notice?" Naruto dubiously glance at Kiba. "I believe Hinata can become the strongest of all of the Hyuugas, you just wait and see."

Kiba was speechless about the fact that Naruto had those kinds of feelings about Hinata. Maybe Hinata had meetings with Naruto that she hadn't told him or about, or perhaps, could Naruto have some sorts of feelings about her? Really? Either way, Kiba made Naruto promise to not talk about it, since Kiba made a promise to Hinata that Naruto can't know anything about it.

* * *

The last month of summer quickly passed away, and usually, Hinata would find Naruto participating in regular missions accompanied by Kakashi and Sakura. Knowing that he worked hard to make a name for himself, she could only do the same. But behind her determined glare, she soon came to realize, that the 15th of September had finally arrived. Shubun no Hi, the national day in Japanese culture when they usually show respect for the dead and deceased. Looking at her digital alarm clock, she could tell that it was five in the morning. "Did I really practicing for that long?" She says to herself. Her voice echoes in the dark room only lit by a candle on her working table.

She felt like it was necessary to do this one thing. Something she didn't want to do with everyone around her. She just had to do it. She had to visit Neji's grave. She had visited it so many times, but she had to talk to him, tell him what she is doing, and hopefully he will be proud about her. Maybe he was watching over her.

The walk took more strength than usual. She wasn't really tired or exhausted from staying up this late, practicing the spiraling technique she was working on with the rasengan. But somehow this walk took more strength from her than usually. Maybe it was because today was the day when she would probably break down and cry in front of everyone. She didn't want to. Not because it was embarrassing, but because she didn't want to show them how she really felt inside. When she finally arrived at the shrine and found his gravestone, she sat on her knees.

"I miss you Nii-san. You were always there for me, even if it was just subtle… You were a good friend, actually, you were a brother to me… But, I guess I've said this every time I visit you here." She looks up at his grave, as though it was his face. "Tomorrow everyone is going to visit you, and pray for you. But…" "Couldn't sleep either, huh?" A voice interrupts her mumbles. "Oh God, I know that voice… Ok Hinata, do as we rehearsed, he's a gross ninja frog with warts and… But he's so handsome, I can't… no! Be strong, be strong!" She turns around to face the boy she was finally talking to after a whole month with him there in the village.

"Naruto-kun, I didn't notice you at all…" She said while she gets up. "I thought of going to Neji's grave and pray for him as soon as dawn showed up." Hinata averts her gaze from him. It had been so long since she saw him. She wanted to hug him, but she didn't know if it would be appropriate. She never congratulated him about beating Obito and practically being the strongest ninja ever. But now would just seem too late. Instead, she stays on the topic.

"Remember what Neji said? That your life is not only one?" "Yeah. With those words, Neji could have become a great leader of the Hyuuga Clan." "You think so too?" She starts sobbing. Remembering that he is gone. It didn't feel right. "Hinata, what's wrong?" His reaction made this unbearable. Afterall she wasn't ready to tackle the fact about being seen with these sorts of emotions in public. "I just, can't believe he's gone. I still can't accept it…" She clutches to her shirt.

"Neither can I…" Naruto whispers. "He was a brave ninja. I have never forgiven myself for having him sacrifice himself for my sake. "Don't ever say that." Hinata murmurs in a mad tone. "Neji didn't only do this for you, he did it for our village." It was starting to get very hard to understand any of the words Hinata was mouthing. But she was done. She starts walking away from the grave, past Naruto. But she doesn't get far before she is pulled in. She feels something. Warmth? Naruto's warmth? He was embracing her tightly. This was a final message to her. "Please let go Hinata. I know this feeling. I've lost many. And I've learned that you can't muster the loss all by yourself. So, please." "Naruto-kun!" She cries out his name as the tears could not be held back any longer.

After a few minutes, she had completely dried up. "Naruto-kun, wh-why?" "I just felt like you needed to get it out." "No, I mean, why are you still clinging onto me?" She murmurs, her face beep red. "Aaaah! Sorry!" He finally reacts and jumps away from her.

After saying their goodbyes to the deceased Neji, Naruto decides on walking Hinata home since it was basically night time, and rapists and burglars might be walking the streets at this moment. As they walk, they talk about their time after the war and how they have been. He didn't get much talk out of Hinata, though, due to her timid personality around him. He abuses this personality of her when he starts another conversation. "You know, I kind of missed you on my journey." He is surprised about how well she took it, though he couldn't really see her face when she responded as it was averted the other way.

"I m-missed you too, a lot actually." "I had been thinking about all of the stuff that had been going on during the war, about what happened after, you know, and when you held my…" As he goes on, she starts waving her arms around as a message for him to stop talking. "Don't talk about that, it's too embarrassing, Naruto-kun…"

After this, the conversation sort of died, and silence roamed until they arrived at the estate. Hinata was about to say goodnight, but Naruto said something first. "Your life is not only one either, though." "Eh?" "You have always been there for me, now I have to be there for you since Neji is not here anymore, and, I think what I'm saying is, as a fellow villager, I'm ready to die if I'm protecting you, too…"


	3. Chapter 3

Autumn Festival and Tears

It was the 27th of October and the official start of the Konoha Festival. Villagers usually celebrate this week with folk dance and great wagons with people in lively costumes to commemorate the day when the fire was lighted, and the first Hokage had been promoted. On this day the villagers of the hidden leaf and neighboring villages, even some from the Sand Village and the Cloud Village dress themselves in lively Yukata kimonos, all branded with a small flame in front of their hearts on the left side of the chest to show that the fire continuously burns inside of their hearts.

The festival is already full of the stands with money-robbing entertainment that no person can resist at noon, and as the sky starts to glow from the setting sun, more and more join the good mood and jolly dancing. Even the Kazekage from the village hidden in the sand couldn't resist this. It was his first year to actually join his siblings at the festival, since he heard that Naruto had finally returned from his adventure around the country of fire after the war.

"Is this truly how a festival looks like?" He said as soon as he entered the gates of Konoha. On the sides, the houses had been decorated with lanterns in the color variations of red, purple, yellow, orange and green that gave them a colorful and warm atmosphere. Aside from the lanterns on the walls, two strong pieces of rope had been hung from the gate of Konoha crossing all the way through the town's main streets to the Hokage building. These two pieces of rope held up pairs of Lanterns of the same color lighting up the village all the way no matter how dark it became. The Konoha festival lasted for three days afterall, and usually no one ever slept until the end of the festival. Since it was a rumor that the longer you stayed awake, the stronger you are, and the more the fire burns within your heart.

"Incredible, the lights just keep going." He said. "And so do all of the fun, right Kankuro?" Temari said poking Kankuro at his left temple. "Shall I win that Unicorn you wanted so badly last year for you again?" "I didn't want it, you just wanted a reason to brag about your skill at throwing a ball!" Kankuro frowns in embarrassment. "Besides, you get me an embarrassing plush every year!" "Well, you're the one who keeps them!" She shouts back laughing cheerfully, and perhaps hysterically as the three proceed through the streets, the leader of the group grasped by awe, while his two companions keep their friendly argument going.

After walking for a few minutes, Temari was sure to see the fellow wagging his tail at finding his target, though he didn't display his pleasure. "Naruto!" He shouts in sarcastic surprise as he notices the three walking up ahead, one in a pink Yukata with red flower petals on it. Unmistakeably, she could only be Sakura. The boy on her left wore a crimson red Yukata with no patterns. That plain kind of coloring was surely Sasuke. And the one on the left wore a green Yukata with ramen bowls and ramen ingredient displays on it. That could only be the ramen lover Naruto.

* * *

"It's so good to see that Gaara hasn't changed at all!" Naruto says cheerfully as he accompanies his team mates after having greeted with Gaara and the others. "It hasn't been three years, y'know." Sasuke sighs. "It's only been three months, don't expect people to suddenly disappear just because of that." "You say that, but you were actually the person to change the most, Sasuke-kun." A stab to the face by the girl in the middle. "Not possible!" The Uchiha waves her argument off. "You know, she's right!" Naruto adds oil to the fire once again. "You have always been the guy to brush off any help you can possibly get, you always wanted to do things on your own, and now you're leading a team of promising genin." Sasuke is about to walk off when Sakura takes his hand. "The thing that changed you the most might be that you've realized that you're a good leader, right, Sasuke-kun."

They all stand still in the middle of the street. A clutch of three lanterns from one of the stands is hanging above them. "I don't know if I'm a great leader, but I can't say I dislike it." The boy says this without even a hint of a smile, but his friends know how to read off his signs of joy. "And Sakura, would you mind letting go of my hand. We're not a couple." Sakura lets go of his hand, but clearly, Naruto reads her expression. She is definitely thinking it. "Just you wait, Sasuke-kun."

After all, everything is really the same as usual. But something is different. For some reason, everything between Naruto and Sakura had died. But it didn't change anything. Naruto hadn't been out with Sakura on many occasions since she told him that nothing would happen between them. Because of that burn Naruto had been avoiding Sakura aside from going on missions with her. This was the first time he could go out with her, and he felt nothing. Whether that was good or bad, he couldn't tell. But he did enjoy being with her nevertheless.

They walk together for a few hours, and soon enough they had arrived at midnight of the first day of the festival. At this moment Sakura was starting to feel tired. Her eyes were half open and she was starting to wobble when she walked. "I'm sorry guys, I didn't sleep well last night, I don't think I'm going to make it through the festival…" She said with an apologetic smile as she fell behind. To this comment, both of the boys grabbed her by the arm. "Don't worry, we'll get you through the festival even if we have to carry you all the way!" Naruto laughed out loud. "I'm not going to carry her, but I know a way to make her seem a bit more lively, but it may be risky." Sasuke adds with a sly smile appearing on his face. "Shushuya?" Naruto proposed, and was straightforwardly confirmed by Sasuke. "Shushuya!"

Shushuya is a quite straight name, since it means Sake Sake Store and is the bar of Konoha. The main house for Tsunade's Gambles. This place also used to be the place where Naruto would usually pick Jiraiya up when he needed something from him. At the moment they walk through the curtains of the front door, Sakura perks up. "W-wait a second! I know why you brought me here! You're going to get me drunk aren't you?!" Her face turns red, but of course not because of the embarrassment of being carried there by two boys. "Shikamaru and Ino did the same to Choji a couple of years ago! I will not be degraded like that!"

"Well, at least she's more lively now…" Sasuke murmurs to himself. "I heard that!" "Oii, if it isn't my frieeends!" A familiar and energetic voice can be heard from behind. "Don't tell me…" Sakura would notice that voice from anywhere, and sighs on her realization. "Lee is drunk again…" As she mumbles this, Tenten can be heard from behind, trying to pull Lee back with a string she attached to his headband which he had tied around his green Yukata of "youth" for some reason. "Come now, let's share a bottle of Sake together!" He yells out loud catching the attention of everyone in the bar, to which they celebrate with a cheer. "Kanpai, Lee!"

"Pull yourself together you!" Tenten says while doing her best to keep the boy in the green Yukata from jumping anyone he recognizes. "You've already got plenty of Sake, one more drink and you'll be KO'd for good…" To her attempt to make Lee see reason, which was quite of a foolish attempt since he was drunk afterall, Lee narrows his eyes and brings himself closer to Naruto and Sakura. "I tell you, I've been stalked all evening by some kind of strange woman." Lee mutters quietly to the two as the stench of sake escapes his mouth. "Should I tell her that she's not my type?"

"Yeah, you do that, Lee, I'm sure she'll understand." Sakura says, trying her best to get Lee's attention away from her while he was in that state. "Isn't that a bit insensitive, Sakura-chan?" The blond supporting Sakura by the shoulder comments. "He won't remember any of this tomorrow either way." Sakura laughs the subject off as they the two observe Lee having his body kicked to oblivion while Sasuke goes for a drink for Sakura.

"Here you are, this is the strongest sake they have." Sasuke presents a blue bottle of Sake to Sakura. "But don't just gobble it all in one…" Rebellious to listen, Sakura starts gurgling the Sake. "Go…" "You really drank all of it, didn't you...?" Naruto commented both surprised and intimidated. "What about it?! Feel like your manhood got scarred?!" Drunken Sakura presents herself in a horrible sense.

After enjoying the drunk Sakura for quite a while, Naruto and Sasuke start to grow weary of her, since she challenges both of them to a game of five finger ferret every fifth minute with a chakra scalpel drawn on her index finger. So, to decide who stays with Sakura and who runs for it, they do a game of rock, paper, scissors, to which Naruto is victorious. Moaning at his defeat, and his "price", Sasuke covers himself in agony as Naruto slips out. But not once was there a hint of fear on Sasuke's face, but he was indeed afraid of what would happen to his own well being.

* * *

After escaping Shushuya, Naruto runs off to the Hokage building where Sasuke couldn't possibly chase after him without being caught by Sakura first. Despite being drunk, Sakura could surely catch Sasuke with ease. Naruto was sure of that. Arriving at the Hokage building, Naruto takes a detour and walks around it, past the noble family houses and compounds, and walks up the hill to the Hokage monument lookout. This is the most visited area in the entire festival since the area is very windy, so people send candles on a small fan along with the wind to guide the restless spirits with the fire. On this day of the year, when the fire burns strongest, spirits will find it easier to follow the light as it will not burn out until the festival is over. It is only a belief, but it is a beautiful gesture.

When Naruto arrives at the lookout, he catches a certain someone looking down on the village leaning against the railing. "Hey, Hinata!" The boy sends a wave to the girl which he recognized right away in her almond colored Yukata, decorated with bright lavender roses on it. It complimented the colors of her eyes and hair well. "N-Naruto-kun? Wh-What are you doing here? Where's Sakura-san and Sasuke-kun?"

Naruto walks up to her which only tenses her more. On pure habit, she takes several steps back but is caught by a standing decorative. Naruto doesn't notice this and starts explaining. "Sasuke wanted to get Sakura drunk to keep her awake, but it backfired and ended up on his receiving end." "But shouldn't you help him, as a fellow teammate?" Hinata says disappointed looking over the railing as an excuse for not looking at how handsome Naruto was looking tonight. Or rather, he looked handsome in her eyes, since the Yukata looked very old, and it really just made him look like his childish old self. Afterall, his childish old self was what Hinata liked the most. "I don't suppose there's much I can do to help them. Someone had to watch Sakura, and it just so happened to be him who lost the bet." Hinata can't hold back a small giggle when he tries to defend himself. She found it cruel to giggle at Sasuke's misery, but she also found herself lucky to be alone with Naruto at this beautiful moment.

"Speaking of teammates, where are yours?" Naruto curiously points out. "I told them I had something important to do by myself, so I left them for a while." Hinata gladly admits looking up towards the swarm of floating candles. "You don't think Neji is a restless spirit do you?" Naruto says with a judging flavor in his words. "Maybe he's worried about me, and won't go home. Maybe he wants to protect me from harm. Maybe…" Naruto touches her shoulder to reassure her. "Hinata, I'm sure he knows you are strong, and you can handle yourself." "I'm not strong…" Hinata murmurs as she takes a couple of steps away from the railing, away from Naruto.

"Strength have different meanings in different ways. You even know that Hinata" Naruto says that confronting her denial from his angle. "In what way do you think I'm strong? I couldn't even scratch Nagato's puppet when I tried to defend Naruto-kun. I couldn't defend myself against the white Zetsu in the war, and it almost got me killed if you hadn't interrupted. I even am to blame for Neji's death because I desperately wanted to protect you!" When Hinata turns around her entire face is covered in tears. "And for the worst, I can't even muster the courage to tell you how much you mean to me." She gets ready to run off as she says the last bits. "But you love Sakura, so my feelings shouldn't get in your way."

Naruto doesn't stop her from running off, but he only says these few words. "I don't love her, you know." She has only taken a few steps when she looks into the ground, afraid to face him. "But I saw you two kiss." She murmurs as the tears keep falling. Her face is turned from him. "When?!" Naruto shouts out in disbelief. "On… On the day, when you returned to the hidden leaf, around dusk, you dropped Sakura at her house and kissed her goodbye. This was the sign that I should stop chasing you and let you live a happy life with Sakura, since she was truly the one you loved. I just .. wanted you to know."

"But it never happened." Naruto says in a sad tone. "Yes, it's true, on that evening I still have loved Sakura, but that night was also the night when I gave up on loving her. Yet again, I got rejected. This time, for good. She told me not to follow her, because I could never be with her like that. Because she doesn't deserve me." "I'm s-so sorry, Naruto-kun. I didn't want to remind you of all of this." Hinata's conversation with Naruto had so far been held with her eyes locked to the ground, and she kept it that way, ashamed of herself. "Don't be, but, I don't love her anymore. But, I don't hate her either."

Hinata hesitantly walks a bit closer to him, but not so close that she can't run away if he tries to reach out for her, all as a precaution for what she is about to do. "C-Can I say something out… b-blunt?" Hinata shuts her eyes tight with a straight posture. "Uhm, I'm not holding you back." Naruto carefully allows her to speak. "I—No never mind…" "Speak up, Hinata, you made me curious already." Naruto giggles and rubs the back of his head. "I-I don't think she deserves you either. You're so kind and you'd do anything to save the ones you love."

"Hinata, you—" Naruto starts talking in a tone that gave Hinata bad signals. "I'm …. I'm sorry I said anything…" "That helped a lot." "Eh?" Naruto isn't smiling nor is he frowning. He just stares intentionally at the girl in front of him, and takes a few steps closer. "Is that really the way you think about me?" He gets no reply to that question, instead she takes a few steps back. But he takes a long step forward, closing all of the distance between them and wraps his arms around her. "Hinata, thank you for taking care of me."

"I always knew, you know. I didn't forget what you told me before charging against pain. You protected me because you love me. And your primary reason to fight in the war was because the war was to protect me from Obito, because you love me. Finally, you wanted to protect me from the Juubi because you love me. Love… is the strongest kind of strength a person can ever possess. With love, though they didn't stand a chance, my parents were capable of shielding me from death by the hands of Obito controlling my dear friend, Kurama." Naruto murmurs these words that Hinata can only faintly hear because she is drowned in the sensation of being embraced by Naruto once again.

"And every time you protected me, I wanted to protect you too." When you got beaten up, by Pain, I was infuriated, when you was almost killed by the Zetsu, I wanted to prevent it, when Neji got killed, I wanted to kick that Juubi and Obito's ass so that you didn't have to die either. Because, like you said, I protect and shield the people I love. So did you."

Hinata breaks from the hug and turns away from him. "Then why?" "Why?" Naruto asks confused. "Why didn't you respond to my feelings?!" She angrily shouts as her tears swift around when she turns. "Did you just realize these feelings that you SUDDENLY feel like telling me about, or have you had these feelings all along?!"

"It's far more than that, Hinata, just let me speak…" Hinata is about to shout but feels a sudden embarrassment after acknowledging the fact that her voice was raised. "I didn't respond to your feelings because it would break your heart. I pursued Sakura because I wanted to forget the crush I had on you. But it always sort of… stuck. You always got prettier and prettier. I couldn't bear it. I just had to hide it the best I could."

"P-p-p-p-p-p-p-" Hinata's head starts spinning after hearing the words "prettier" escape his mouth, but suddenly snaps out of it as she realizes what he said. "W-Wait, what do you mean about… breaking my heart? And for how long did you have a crush on me?"

"I don't know for how long, maybe since… I came back maybe? Or maybe it was already all the way back from childhood." The boy admits in defeat, there was no other way out, since he had already brought this on himself. "But as a kid, I wasn't stupid. You're a Hyuuga, practically noble. And I'm a poor brat. This world isn't a fairy tale land. Poor boys can't love rich girls, that's how society works. You have to protect the gift of your eyes. And you can't do that if you're with someone like me."

"I just… don't deserve a girl like you, Hinata…"


	4. Chapter 4

Those who deserve

_I've never really deserved your kindness, but you offered it to me anyway, and I just couldn't accept that._

I think I was the most delinquent kid in the entire village back then. Heh. I ravaged and vandalized wherever I felt like it back then. You could say I was out of control, since the villagers always went "oh he's at it again! Catch him somebody!" I never got any attention from adults or other children, so that kind of attention was heaven to me, whether it being the good or bad kind. I know it was wrong, but I kind of stuck to it because I liked it.

On a weekly occasion, I would find something they would notice and vandalize it with paint, toilet paper, and when I felt good about it, even powder from paper bombs. Eh, don't give me that look, nobody was ever hurt. Hahaha! But one day, I went to a district I had never been to before. People had talked about it being the noblest district in the village, where your family, the Hyuugas reside. There was a word around town that they were always so serious, so I thought I'd liven their mood with some happy colors on the east wall of their dojo. They didn't, though, and I hid pretty fast when they saw it. Don't ask me why they didn't find me. They could have spotted me anytime with their Byakugan, they just didn't. But I spotted something. Someone. You.

You were hiding behind your dad while the elders kept yelling forth and back about this "lack of discipline and respect for the noblest family, bla bla blah." You and your sister wore black jumpsuits so I was assuming you were about to train. And while I was lost in thought about your funny costumes, suddenly you turned around. I hid as fast as I could, but I caught a glimpse of it. But of course, as young as I was, I didn't understand the feeling I had when you looked my way. Yet, I came to realize it when I got old enough.

It was around at the age of eight I think, when you spotted me for the first time. I heard every bit of your conversation, though, I wish I hadn't. "You can't talk to him Hinata-sama, he'll hurt you." So why would I hurt you? Is it because of what I did, or because of what I am? That was what I thought. I tried to change my way for you, but I couldn't. Somehow the vandalizing filled a sore hole in my chest. That is, until Iruka-sensei filled it for me. He became like a father to me, or a bigger brother. But yet, I was still mad about what that Hyuuga said back then. I needed to prove to you that I didn't want to hurt you. I wanted to protect you. I wanted to be your friend. If you'd let me.

"I never found you scary or to be someone hurtful, though."

I'm relieved about that, but, do you remember when you were ambushed by those three boys back when you were nine? We hadn't gone into the academy yet, but you trained at the dojo and I trained whenever I got chased by the villagers. But, those mean kids were academy students. Despite of that, I wouldn't let them push you down like that, apologizing for being what you are. Back then, I hated what I am too and wished to be in your place. But I would never apologize for my fate. That's why I barged in. I wanted to make them apologize for making you do such things. Maybe you'd accept me then. Maybe your family would see what I really am. I knew I'd get beaten up good, but I at least wanted the Hyuugas' respect. I didn't get it though. Your escort just pulled you away telling you not to get near me again. I failed.

"You didn't. You… You woke me up back then." She mutters at his sad memories. "I used to believe I was good for nothing, but, you made me believe that even if I'm weak, I can become stronger if I work hard for it. You even proved that to me." "You mean my fight against Neji?" "Yes, you didn't only prove to him that the inexperienced can surpass the genius, you also proved to me that I have a chance to get stronger. You became my light that guided me to grasp for power."

_You were my light too_

Back at the Chuunin exam I wanted to prove to everyone that I, the boy everyone thought to be the most incompetent ninja, could beat even a genius. I wanted to prove that especially to you because I saw how much you feared Neji. How you shook when he knocked you out cold. I was sure there was a hint of death in his eyes. Like he was ready to kill you if necessary back then. So, I can't say I only wanted to prove something, I also wanted to repay him for what he did to you.

"Don't make Neji-nii-san the enemy, it wasn't his…"

I know, sorry. But, do you remember when we met at the training field? I was awfully late for me exam, but for some reason, I made a halt seing you standing there, calling out my name. You were timidly hiding behind one of those wooden logs. What you said back then, I wanted you to feel the same way about your own strength after seing how much fear and mistrust you put in yourself during your fight against him. But that's not what really mattered the most. What mattered, is that you gave me the strength to believe that I would definitely defeat Neji no matter what. And that I would get up no matter how many of my tenketsu he rendered useless because you believed in me.

I kept going forward because of that. It became my source of power from time to time. That if everyone acknowledged me, I would be acknowledged by the Hyuuga family too, and by you.

"I acknowledged you already. I knew you would become something great the moment you saved me from those bullies that day." Hinata says shyly, tugging on his Yukata. As she realizes that she is holding onto him her face turns red as she takes a gentle jump back. "But… But I didn't know if you would acknowledge me, as… as a strong person that is. But in the end, I too believed you wanted to prove something to me during the tournament too. Even though you didn't say this now, you wanted to show me that you can achieve real power if only you believe that you can. That's why I wasn't afraid to die protecting you when I rushed in to protect you against Pain. It wasn't only that, but I also wanted to repay the favor I could never repay you. The very first time you saved me. The moment when we met."

After I came back from my training with Jiraiya-sensei, after three years. You looked so graceful, and you were so beautiful. It was like you had completely gotten out of range. You were so out of my league. When I came back I had promised myself that it's time to move on. I was sure that you had already found yourself a boyfriend when I came back so I forced myself to forget about a relationship with you. And although I had done this before, this time, I decided to actually aim for Sakura-chan as a potential girlfriend, to patch up the hole I had in my heart from knowing that I could not be with you.

"It's not like you to give up like that Naruto-kun. Why did you think I would…"

One day after training, I told Jiraiya-sensei about my troubled feelings for you. I asked him what I should do about my crush on you, and he told me how many chances I had. They were his honest opinion, clearly, and they were pretty reliable, since it all made sense. These were his exact words:

"Even if you love the Hyuuga cutie, and she loves you back, you can't be with her and truly be happy. Your relationship will end when her father and the clan finds out about it, and they might even cut the girl from her social standing because she chose to love, well, you. It's not offensive, but the status you had in the village back then still stands. Nobody hates you more than the Hyuuga, because you're a…"

"Jinchuuriki" I cut him off. "Yeah, Exactly. Not only that, but the Hyuuga family is a highborn family that makes a great deal out of family honor and bloodline. The Byakugan dojutsu is both. It is their honor because they are the only family to have the pure version of that eye, and it's their bloodline because only when the eye lives on will the family name live on. If you get together with that girl, you will be targeted as a hostile because you might be a probable husband for the girl despite your age. It's a tradition for them to only date when they are ready to create their next generation. And they can only date whoever the family deems worthy of marrying their child, boy or girl. And that would of course only be another Hyuuga. So you see, Naruto, your love for lady Hinata is forbidden, and can never happen if she respects her father and her family, after all, she is to become the next Hyuuga leader, isn't she?"

"That's when I gave up on you. I can't take that away from you. I want you to protect your legacy, your bloodline. I don't want to tarnish it with the blood of a jinchuuriki." "You… you…" Naruto looks up as a fist comes flying to his face. He could have easily dodged it, but he felt he had to take it, or she wouldn't be satisfied. "How can you say something like that?" Hinata sobs as she holds onto his head with both of her hands. She does a weird movement which Naruto has a hard time following up on. He really had no choice since his head was locked in between her hands. In her movement, she collapses onto her knees while drawing Naruto's head to her breastbone. She releases realizing what a foolish position she had Naruto lying in.

Finding a better posture, Naruto sits beside Hinata as she tries to understand Naruto's feelings while spilling her own. "You want to protect me so much that you don't want to sacrifice my family's jutsu to be with me? I don't get you Naruto-kun. For the first time ever, I really don't get what you're saying." "Hinata, you mean a lot to me, but I'm not going to get you in trouble for something so trivial as love." "Then why? Why did you confess to me now? Because I confessed to you?" Naruto lowers his head. It was true, he had done a terrible mistake when he confessed to her, and yet, so had she. But he didn't want to blame, afterall, she wasn't blaming him either, she just wanted to know. "I didn't want to reject you. I guess I'm being selfish, but I wanted to at least get these mixed feelings off my chest before you ran off." "You're right, that is selfish, Naruto-kun."

A horrible silence interrupts their conversation. It had left off at a horrible point which Naruto didn't know how to fix. He wanted to fix it, he wanted to be with Hinata, but he didn't want her to go through all of the trouble of getting her father to accept someone like him just so he could get to be with the girl he truly adored.

"Let me tell you this, Naruto-kun." To break off the silence, Naruto perks his head up to the half-sobbing voice coming from the girl sitting beside him. "Do you truly believe I haven't thought about everything your teacher told you?" For every word, Hinata's voice raises. Was she… mad with him? Hinata Hyuuga? Mad? With Naruto? "I took all those things in my conscience when I decided that I love you. And I can gladly say…" Her voice returns to normal when she says the last bit. "That I will love you whatever they tell me." Hinata's tears slip out of her eyes again. "I have loved you for so long, that I will do whatever it takes to be with you, as long as you don't deny my love, refusing it like you did just now because it would trouble me. So, Naruto, if you truly love me, will you walk the same road with me?"

Naruto looks down for a while as he thinks about her words. They were hard to take, hard to digest, but finally he looks up. "As long as I haven't proved myself, I can't possibly deserve your love, Hinata." As he says this, Hinata's head drops in denial. "You… you really don't want to burden me, even if I said I want to be burdened for your sake?"

"No, you don't understand, Hinata…" Naruto says, taking her right hand in his, as he gets her up. "What I'm saying is, I am but a villager in this large settlement, and you are a princess. So, if you are certain that you want to fight your father over this, then be my guest. But, until I become a Hokage, I can't possibly deserve the love of someone like you. I don't deserve your honeyed words, your kind heart, not even your smile, not until I have been acknowledged by the one whom you call "father".

"Naruto-kun… Is this the reason why you really wanted to become the Hokage?" "Maybe, maybe not. That's for you to decide, Hinata~" Naruto laughs out as he gives her a thumbs up coped with a smile. "You truly are amazing, Naruto-kun." Hinata says while wiping the still wet tears off her face. "So it's a promise then?" Naruto says out loud having turned to face Hinata once again with his arm stretched out. "Eh?" "When I become Hokage, please marry me, Hyuuga Hinata."

"EEEEEEHHHHH?!" Hinata completely blacks out on Naruto's words, as you can hear Naruto shouting out the girl's name from the bottom of the village.

So in the end it became a promise. Afterall, the blonde boy loved the timid Hyuuga back for all of this time. And every time she showed these feelings to him, he couldn't help but find it harder to let go of her. When she told him of her feelings in front of Pain, when she held his hand on the battlefield. Both of these moments had something in them that Naruto hadn't yet realized about Hinata. The real reason behind her feelings was, that she didn't just want to protect him. She admired him. And because of that, she didn't want to live in his shadow. She wanted to protect his shadow by becoming the shadow. She wanted the boy himself to admire her. But only today did the girl realize, that he had always admired her.

After all, Naruto's feelings towards Hinata may be stronger than we truly believe.


	5. Chapter 5

Love and Music

The 30th of October had finally arrived, which was the last day of the festival, and also the day when the first Hokage's face was carved into the mountain wall of the Hokages, finally linking the fire in people with a common desire. To live under this one person that built the very first village and nation, that honored their lives and wanted to light a path for them. Thus, the 30th of October was an appraisal of the election of the first Hokage, not just the foundation of the village. And as such, like any other festival, the last day will have more meaning. On this day, couples will dance around the bonfire while music will play in the background. And when midnight arrives, fireworks will dash into the starry sky to join the stars, coloring Cassiopeia and Andromeda in illuminous lights.

The time wasn't in for the couple dancing though, since Naruto would definitely want to be there to see if Hinata would want to dance with him despite of the fact that he cold-bloodedly rejected her on the most romantic spot in all of Konoha. "Do you have to point it out blank?!" Yes, yes I do.

The dance and festivities would start at 9pm and last until midnight when the fireworks start to shower, and go on until the morning, when the rising sun will mark the end of the festival. After that, the village will slumber for an entire day before everything would turn to normal. This was, afterall, the greatest festival in the country of fire. Right now, though, it was merely seven as Naruto and Sasuke drag the hangover-suffering pink haired tomboy wreck to Yakiniku q, Konoha's Barbeque restaurant. As a tradition, all in Konoha eleven would eat here on the third day of the festival as a celebration to commemorate everyone for their hard work as ninjas.

"Guys! What is Choji doing in the porcelain shop? He can't afford thaaaat!" "Sakura, we're not in a porcelain shop, we're half a mile away from it" Naruto tries to explain in such a simple manner that even a three year old could understand. "this is Yakiniku q, we're going to have dinner. "Eeeeeh!? I hate barbequed food, I want a horse!" The boys didn't even stare oddly at Sakura for that statement, the rest of the restaurant and the other members of Konoha 11 would carry out that job.

"This is all your fault, Sasuke!" "You were just as much at fault as I was, you baka!" "You suggested it!" "And you confirmed it! Besides, you need to pay me for staying with Sakura for 24 hours! It was horrible!" "It was a BET!" One would start to wonder how many words these boys could exchange just by glaring at one another, and at the time their silent argument had ended, something was amiss.

"Where did she go?!" "She's cuddling with my dog!" Kiba yells out loud trying to kick Sakura off of Akamaru beneath the table while two people desperately try to drag her out and get a hold on her. "Did you give Sakura booze?" Ino asks Naruto and Sasuke in such a tone that it creeped up along both of their spines. They knew they had something unpleasant coming, but when they turn around they are relieved to just receive a sigh escaping her. Ino wasn't as violent as she used to be. Why?

"Sakura is horrible at handling alcohol. She probably told you she never drank, but that's because she doesn't remember the first time she drank and I'll never tell her or anyone, for her own sake. But, she is as horrible as Lee at handling it." Ino puts her right hand in her pocket. "But lucky for you, I have a solution to this. If you'd like I can make her fall asleep on the spot and forget everything that has happened. That's what I did the first time anyway." "No can do!" Naruto says out loud standing in a proud stance. "Nobody sleeps on the festival of fire!" "Please knock her out cold, I beg of you!" Sasuke says with praying words. "Sasuke you traitor!" "You didn't face what I faced Naruto, you'd take the help if you were in my place!" The black haired boy says with such sorrowful words that it wasn't even Sasuke anymore.

"Well, without further ado, Shikamaru!" Ino calls out to Shikamaru sitting right next to her in the booth. "How troublesome is this? Can't we just let her drag herself around? she'll collapse at some point…" The boy says while getting out of the booth, and although complaining underway, he readies his stance. "Kagemane no jutsu!" A shadow extends from his feet and locks with Sakura. She is now unable to move, and doesn't even say a word, actually, she is cracking up. Finally, her silence breaks. "Hahaha! It tickles! Stop!"

"Sorry Sakura, this is for your own good…" Ino proclaims and takes something out of her pocket. A bottle with a white liquid in it. "This is the salts of a rare mountain cave flower in the land of lightning. The smell from it can knock anyone out cold. It's dangerous but it won't harm somebody like Sakura." She says this as she screws off the lid and holds it up beneath Sakura's nose. "Uh, whales! Make me your emper—zzzzzz…" Finally Sakura was asleep after making no sense for a total of 24 hours.

The restaurant was much quieter when Sakura was out cold. All of the Konoha 11 were here, except for Lee, and of course Neji. Lee was running around with Gai at this point since Tenten was sick at running around with him in, literally, a leash. As they all share their traditional dinner, Naruto can't help himself from staring at Hinata from time to time. The talk at the lookout. He hated himself for it. Why reject her? Why would he definitely regret if he tried being with her? Did he really fear that she would never be happy with him, and that her family would expel her? Like she said, she kept all of that in mind, and she loved him despite of all of that. But what if her love was an illusion? But that was just stupid. Why would she make such a big deal out of a confession if her love was fictional?

But, he had to carry this out for both of them. Yet again, even if he would become Hokage, would her father let him have his one love? Sure, she would go against any means to be with him if her love was true. But would her father allow it? Would he bless them? This was the thing Naruto feared the most. As Naruto went through all of this in his head, his eyes locked with hers. She noticed. Her eyes were beautiful, the Yukata she wore made them shine like shooting stars, and her hair, brushing against her face from the wind entering the open window at the wall in the booth made her look like a goddess. "Why do I even care?" He thinks to himself. "If I love her I love her. If she loves me she loves me. Why do I make such a big of a deal out of this?!"

Hinata averts her eyes mumbling a few words that only he could hear, since no sound was escaping, but he could read the words off her mouth. "You're staring." Grasping the moment, Naruto can't do anything other than wishing he was a chameleon, which he sort of was since his face could easily change its color into a bright red. Kiba, sitting next to Naruto overlooked this scene. Somehow, he could see that something had happened during the festival. But he didn't believe that something like this could happen. Both horrible love birds. "Just kiss already." He mumbles to himself, clearly grasping the situation the two found themselves in, yet Kiba had no idea how difficult this seemed to be.

* * *

"I'm going to carry Sakura home, I don't feel like dragging her body everywhere." Sasuke moans out as everyone head out of Yakiniku q. "I'll go with you!" Naruto shouts out. "Nah, I'll be fine, I know you have something else planned." Sasuke spouts out. "What do you mean?" "Come on, we all saw how you looked at eachother in there…" Tenten grinds Naruto's temples as a way of calling him a foolish boy. "Owowowow OW!" "I'm sorry Naruto-kun…" Hinata bows apologetically for some reason. "Why are YOU sorry?!" Naruto throws his arms in the air.

"I was the one who was droo-…" Naruto bites his own tongue to stop it from moving. He had already said too many things now. "Let's… just head for the bonfire, I think it's around 9 now." "Oh, really?" Hinata shouts out making everyone to her outburst. "I have to go then, s-see you at the bonfire everyone!" Hinata waves as she dashes towards the town center at top speed.

The dance had started spot on at 9pm, and everyone started joining the ballad. The dance around the bonfire was not just about couples, but about finding "the one" too. As history describes it, it is about embers burning to become one flame, so in this folk dance pairs, boy and girl are formed every time the entrancing tune repeats itself. The tune is an entrancing sound of a Chinese flute and the ancient Japanese string instrument, the shamisen harp. These created a nostalgic and ancient tune together with two violins, a viola and a bass that both sounded wild but also jolly and fun. This created the perfect mood for a folk dance about love but also enjoying the moment.

But the dance also has a special meaning. During the dance, two embers from the bonfire might land on a dancing couple. But it will only have a meaning if the couple is at the last section of the dance. If this happens, the pair is blessed by the will of fire.

On the dance, Naruto sits on a chair, watching the dance. He didn't feel like finding a partner, even though it wouldn't be a hard task since he's the hero of the hidden leaf. But he didn't feel happy about joining since he didn't want to dance with other girls. Not because he felt like he had made a promise to a certain someone that he would not date other girls, but because he had already had a lot of drama in this festival. Or maybe he just didn't want to stare at other girls than "her", he really had no idea how to feel or how his feelings even worked, or if they were even meant to be understood.

"Don't feel like dancing, Naruto?" "Ah, Shino, I could say the same for you." Shino looked quite funny in a Yukata. Naruto had never really noticed this. Despite wearing a nice kimono he still wore his glasses not fitting his costume at all, like he was refusing some order his parents had given him. He sits down beside Naruto on the chair he had dragged with him. "You remembered my name, that's progress." Naruto scuffs at his words, and forces a smile even though he was deeply in thought about something depressing. "Why do you hold back?" Shino asks from behind his sunglasses. "From what?" "None of us are dumb, we know something happened between you two. After all she has been in love with you for.." "There's nothing going on between us, it's not like that. stop prying like a child…" Naruto blurts out. "I see, so, you don't like her back?" Shino says as a comeback. For some reason that one hurt. Naruto wanted to say "of course I do!" But he didn't want any of his retarded feelings to be known by others than…

Naruto stands up in such a violent way that his chair falls over and starts walking away, leaving Shino hanging at his question. Why does he even care? Why is Hinata's feelings for him such a big deal to everyone? Sure, it was quite obvious she was in love with him, but is it really everyone's business? Kiba, Shino, Tenten, even Sasuke… who else would start prying him about it? Did they pry to Hinata about it too? He takes his first step off the dancing grounds when suddenly the music stops.

"H-Hello fellow villagers! As you know I'm Hinata of the Hyuuga family." From hearing her voice, the boy takes an immediate turn. "Hinata?!" "I w-was elected by my fellow villagers and Hokage-sama to supply you with the entertainment for the Bonfire waltz." When her first sentence ends, she is welcomed by an applause from everyone around the bonfire. Hinata had positioned herself with a microphone on the stage where all of the instruments played the music. A drum kit had been added to the orchestra and the shamisen had been replaced by a western guitar. "I'm only going to sing this one song since it's quite embarrassing standing up here. So, without further ado, this song is called 'Wild Eyes'".

Hinata looks back at the orchestra, giving them the signal to start playing. Immediately, the drummer starts banging his drumsticks and the string ensemble starts making a loud tune that sounds so violent, but yet so beautiful. It's a fast song. Hinata starts singing after the string ensemble had performed the riff. Coped by the guitar, her voice filled the entire place, silencing every mouth on the spot. Naruto had the idea Hinata would be a good singer, but not that she had so much power in her voice. It was a complete other Hinata. It was like she was in another world, more confident, more brave. Strong.

When she reaches the chorus of the song, Naruto is thrown aback. Listening to these lyrics, he realizes what lies behind her words. Or was it simply his imagination? Did she choose the song, or was it just a coincidence?

"Those shining blue beautiful eyes,  
even if they were to get shut by the Servants from the Dark,  
no one can take the bridge of dreams connecting us.  
They reflect the limitless future!"

Did she mean Naruto's eyes? And in that case, did she speak of the Hyuuga family as the "Servants from the Dark"? Everything she sang made him believe this song was all about him, and yet, everything could be a coincidence. Afterall, Naruto had been overinterpreting a lot lately.

After Hinata finishes the song, she receives an applause from everyone. Aside from the usual applause, she also gets yells like "You sounded amazing Hinata!" and "Please sing another song!" "S-Sorry everyone, that's all of the entertainment for tonight, p-please enjoy the rest of the night and thanks for all of your support!" Hinata thankfully bows and leaves the scene as fast as she can, jumping down at the front. As soon as she hits the ground, she is met by everyone surrounding her. Naruto wanted to praise her, but he didn't feel like it mattered when everyone were doing the same.

He turns around and is about to walk away just like he was before. "Where do you think you're going, you baka!" He is grabbed by the shoulder. "Sakura-chan?! You're awake?!" Naruto is astonished to see Sakura lively, awake, and more importantly, sober!

* * *

It's twenty minutes before midnight. Sasuke and Sakura had been out dancing at the bonfire a few times, but Naruto had been standing at the bar sucking on a blue ice cream for quite a while. Whenever he looks towards Hinata, he sees her being surrounded by a lot of people, but also notices that she is glancing towards him sometimes. Maybe a call for help to get her out of there, but he didn't believe that since she was smiling and laughing. Maybe she didn't need him to be happy, now she has a lot of people that like her because of what happened tonight.

Hinata hadn't been dancing either, though she had been asked very many times by a lot of men. Seing all of those men coming to her was a sting to his chest. Why didn't he just ask her himself? But maybe it was just because she was embarrassed to dance. If that was the case, Naruto would feel like an idiot if he invited her to a dance. "Damn it, all of these maybes…" Naruto curses himself when suddenly a hand snaps in front of him.

"Sakura to Naruto, over?!" He finds Sakura standing in front of him. "What's up with all of that sighing? You haven't joined the dance even once!" "I'm not in the mood for dancing this year, sorry Sakura." "You used to be so happy whenever you ended up with me at the dance, and now I'm even asking you directly!" "Yeah, but things changed. I don't look at you that way anymore." "Well I'm not gonna watch you eat ice cream all night!" Sakura grabs Naruto's hand by the wrist and drags him to the bonfire.

In the corner of the eye whilst complaining, he can see Sasuke offering Hinata his hand as an invitation to dance with him. Naruto's eyes widen when he sees her accept his hand. He is enraged. Why would Sasuke want to dance with Hinata? Does he like her that way? Now that Naruto starts thinking about it, Hinata has never been all over him like the other girls. So maybe he started liking her because she wasn't like the other girls.

"Naruto you're fading away, get a hold of yourself dude!" Sakura yells out loud snapping both of her hands in front of his face. Naruto is glad that she did that. Maybe he shouldn't think so much about everything now. As he starts to dance with Sakura, circling around while linking arms and clapping eachother's sandals, Sakura starts questioning Naruto.

"It's painful to watch you like this, Naruto. Since I came in here, you've been looking at Hinata constantly." "Why do you—" "Don't interrupt me, please, I'm trying to pep talk you here." They both give a small laugh as she keeps going. "If you really like Hinata, I think you should go for it. She has been crushing on you for a long time. You know that, don't you?" "Yeah…" "Well, then go for it, why do you hold back? If you've known this for as long as I have, then I don't understand why you're holding back." "So much happened. The war, everything, and I don't… deserve her anyway."

The dance keeps going and enters second round when the man spins the woman around and swings her around in a circle. "Hey! That's my line, you…" Sakura gives him a mad face while he spins her around. "Why don't you deserve her? Because she's a Hyuuga? Don't hold back because people are what they are. It doesn't matter! You are Naruto, and she is Hinata, and you're both crazy about eachother, so, there's nothing else to be said there, if you love her, then prove it to her, even if you are stubborn and don't want to get together with her before you can prove your worth! Afterall you only need to prove it to yourself. She already knows."

Naruto is amazed that Sakura could read every single one of his emotions just like that. She was his teammate afterall, but this was just absurd. He felt worthless for being so easy to read. And yet, it is quite logical that he would hold back for such a trivial matter. The princess and the beggar is quite a common love story afterall.

For quite a few rounds, Naruto is thrown from girl to girl dancing and laughing to a point when he almost forgets the reason why Sakura really dragged him in there. The dance consisted of 5 rounds in which the fifth round is a partner switcheroo. And since every round lasts a few minutes and counting how many girls he had been dancing with, he realized it was pretty close to midnight now. But little of this was important when suddenly, she was thrown directly into his arms.

"F-for real?" She murmurs. "I-I didn't think we would actually end up dancing together." Naruto mumbles embarrassed as well. But as the music starts playing again, both of them feel obliged to start waltzing around eachother. And as the dance progresses, Naruto can't help but start questioning her. "Why did you agree to dance with Sasuke? I thought…" She timidly smiles at his jealous tone. "I saw you go in there with Sakura, so I wanted to join the dance too. I waited to join the dance until you joined." "Thanks." Naruto says wholeheartedly to her reasoning.

"Do you remember a few years back, at the festival in the bonfire dance?" Hinata asks him as they enter round two, when Naruto starts spinning her around. "Yeah, we ended up together in the dance, but you fainted before I could even spin you around. Heheh." Hinata's face turns red upon him reminding her of that. "I-I was referring to something else. Do you remember that you were actually the one who invited me up there? Because you wanted to dance with Sakura, and I was the only girl left that hadn't been invited to dance." "Yeah, I do. That was good memories…"

The dance progresses to the fourth round, close to the final round and the partner switch. In the fourth round, the pairs dance close, waltzing around as they form circles moving around eachother when you look at it from bird perspective. "I think I finally understand now." Naruto suddenly says while the two of them timidly hold onto eachothers hands and shoulders lightly waltzing in a circular movement. "I think… I was wrong back then. Love is not something you need to deserve, if I kept thinking that way I would just be a damsel in distress waiting to be rescued and loved. Love is about reaching out. And I found out that it was pointless to think like that, since you already chose me. If you still think that way about me that is. I mean there are so many men more capable than…"

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata interrupts him while leaning her head against his chest. She could hear his heartbeat. It was like two because of the pace it had picked up. "I love only one, and that is you. It's not that I wanted to save myself for you, but you've always had a special place in my heart and… I want you to conquer it." "Hinata… I…" Naruto wants to say the word, but something hot burns on the nape of his neck, they both let go at the same time rubbing their neck. They were burnt by something hot. Embers? "Stupid fire!" Naruto yells out.

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata calls out to him making him forget about his burnt neck. She grabs onto his Yukata and brings herself closer to him. "Please don't lie about something like that." "I wouldn't." Naruto swears on his word. "I love you Hinata, I always have." "I love you too, Naruto-kun."

They close their eyes, and after that, the movement comes naturally. His left and her right hand join together, as his right hand reaches around her back, and pulls both of them closer, upon which her body jumps, her hand resting on his chest bone. She stands on her toes. He arcs his neck. And they come closer. Finally, a fire. Two embers became one flame, and this one flame became more and more dense, giving birth to other embers. This was the birth of their fire, which burnt so strongly inside of their hearts. Love. They finally expressed this undying love with a first kiss.

The sensation was moist, but in itself, it was pure. Truly, it was their first kiss, so none of them knew what to do, so they were both cautious about what they did. In the end they ended up just nibbling on eachothers' lips and embracing eachother. Naruto steps back to grasp for air, realizing that everyone was looking. The men were glaring at Naruto, and the girls were smiling, but nothing in the world mattered, all that mattered was THE one person in front of him.

"Naruto-kun, as you promised, please become mine truly, when you become Hokage. I will wait for you, I promise."


End file.
